“An enigmatic group portrait of sorts, Las Meninas is populated by an odd cast of characters, including a princess, a nun, a dwarf, and the Baroque artist himself. A stark divergence from traditional royal portraiture, many have likened the painting to a snapshot, in the sense that it packs in a wealth of action. At the same time, close examination reveals that it doesn’t seem to follow the rules of perspective. Without clear evidence of the artist’s intentions or the wishes of his patron, viewers and historians alike are mostly left with theories and unanswerable questions. … Below, we break down what we do (and don’t) know about this inscrutable Spanish masterpiece.”
Data: How Music Has Changed In The Streaming Era (More Music, Worse Titles)
By analyzing the kinds of songs and artists that had the most success on the Hot-100, we can see that in 9 short years, there have been major changes in music.
Tavis Smiley Sued PBS For Breach Of Contract; Now PBS Countersues Smiley – And Includes Detailed Sexual Harassment Charges
In December, PBS suspended Smiley’s nightly talk show in the wake of allegations that he had behaved improperly with female members of his staff; within weeks, Smiley, furiously denying the charges and alleging that PBS was “racially hostile” to him, filed suit against the network. “[Now, a] 32-page answer and countersuit, filed in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, alleges Smiley violated the network’s morals clause and seeks $1.9 million in returned salary plus unspecified damages.”
Olly Wilson, Composer Who Brought West African Material Into Western Avant-Garde Music, Dead At 80
“Mr. Wilson, a longtime professor at the University of California, Berkeley, grew up listening to jazz and spirituals. He studied African music in Ghana under one of his two Guggenheim Fellowships, opened an electronic music studio at the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he had formerly taught, and wrote academic papers, including a major essay on the art of black music.”
Why Is The New York Times’ History Of Gay Theater All Plays By White Men?
Alisa Solomon: “How deeply and daily disappointing that the paper of record erases the same people and perspectives that are ever more disdained by the current regime. That for me, at least, goes some way toward explaining the outsized irritation – my own and that of many colleagues – that greeted Jesse Green’s recent 5,000-word essay ‘A Brief History of Gay Theater,’ which ran in [the Men’s Style issue of] T: The New York Times Style Magazine on Sunday, March 4.”
CDs And Vinyl Are Once Again Outselling Digital Downloads
“The RIAA released its 2017 year-end revenue report on Thursday, showing that revenue from digital downloads plummeted 25 percent to $1.3 billion over the previous year. Revenue from physical products, by contrast, fell 4 percent to $1.5 billion. Overall, the music industry grew for the second straight year. And with $8.7 billion in total revenue, it’s the healthiest it has been since 2008.”
Brazil Has One Jackson Pollock – And Its Museum Is Selling It To Keep Itself Afloat
“The Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro announced on Sunday that it is selling the only Jackson Pollock painting currently on public view in Brazil. The museum expects the work, Nº 16 (1950), to sell for around $25 million, which would help the museum sustain itself for at least 30 years. This will be the first time a museum in Brazil has deaccessioned an artwork to pay off debt. MAM currently has a deficit of 1.5 million reais (roughly $454,170), and because it’s a private institution, it does not receive any governmental assistance.”
Big Gender Gap In Pay At Major UK Publishers
The biggest disparity was seen at Hachette UK, where the median gender pay gap was 24.71%, and the mean gender pay gap was 29.69%. Hachette attributed the imbalance to issues including the higher number of men in senior roles; the higher proportion of women in lower pay brackets; and the higher number of women working flexibly and part time.
The Mayor Of London Has Offered One Million Pounds In Grants For London Artists
This sounds like a slice of arts funding paradise: “Particularly targeted at those who do not already have access to public funding and people on lower incomes, the Culture Seeds grants could go towards hiring a venue space or funding artists to lead workshops. Recipients of the grants will be supported with further funding applications by the mayor’s volunteering and social action team and will be given access to resources, surgeries and networks.”
Cannes Has Banned Netflix Films From Competing At The Festival, And Here’s Why
Netflix, which had the rules bent for Okja last year, can’t get around it this year: The films have to be in theatrical release in France to be considered for awards at Cannes. Festival director Thierry Fremaux: “The Netflix people loved the red carpet and would like to be present with other films. But they understand that the intransigence of their own model is now the opposite of ours.”
Want To See What Ancient Ruins Would Look Like If They Were Still In Good Shape Now?
Take a look at these pretty great GIFs. Just wow.
Photographers Combating Stereotypes
Two photographers talk about what they’re doing in their shows at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, and it’s not what you’ll hear in the news. “The shows tell a wildly different story about Mexican Americans than the political punch lines you might hear about bad hombres in the news. They document activism, faith, community and culture.”
Louisa May Alcott’s Mom Helped Make Her Daughter A Writer
Wow: “In her mother, Louisa saw a powerful figure, capable of acting independently of a man, indeed standing in a man’s position by way of supporting the household, and, at critical points when Louisa’s voice might have been silenced by cultural mores and values, … Abba gave Louisa the unwavering encouragement to follow her inclinations and talent.”
How The Women Of The Me Too Movement Are Fighting Their Way Back Into Hollywood
The women who say Harvey Weinstein first molested or raped them and then ruined their careers are fighting back and getting somewhere in Hollywood again, sometimes decades after he took them down. Mira Sorvino, for instance: “Since Weinstein no longer has the clout to hang up on directors who mention her name, Sorvino is in perpetual motion. This year, she’s got major roles in nine movies, a guest spot on the hit sitcom Modern Family, and, fingers crossed, a star network gig as a top-ranked marine lawyer in the CBS pilot ‘The Code’.”
Eli Leon, Champion Of African-American Quilt Makers, Has Died At 82
He haunted flea markets in Oakland and found quilts at the stall of Rosie Lee Tompkins. Eventually, she let on that they were her work. “He began to buy whatever she would sell him while also buying from other members of a large community of African-American quilt makers in the Oakland area. Over 30 years he accrued a collection of around 3,500 quilts, including some 200 by Ms. Tompkins. (With his death, how that collection will be disposed of is not yet known.)”
Untangling The Broadway Fight Over ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’
In short, Harper Lee agreed to let Aaron Sorkin write a script, but it wasn’t supposed to change the characters or “denigrate” them. Lee’s dead, but her lawyer says the script (of a play that’s supposed to open on Broadway in December) goes too far. “What happens now? The two sides could settle the dispute. Or the case could go to trial. In the meantime, we asked seven lawyers with relevant expertise to help us untangle the thicket — how much change is permissible, and who gets to decide whether the script crosses that line?”
John Luther Adams Explains How He ‘Hears The Desert In Music’
The composer: “You are in a strange landscape. You don’t know how to read the weather or the light. You are unsure how long you will be here, or how challenging the journey may be. ‘This is beautiful,’ you think. ‘But will anything ever happen?'”
Margot Robbie, Star Of I, Tonya, Plans A New Shakespeare Series Focusing On Women For Australian TV
Robbie’s plan is to emphasize diverse Australian talent. She said, “I’m taking a lot of meetings with the lesser-known talent at the moment, the indie film-makers, first- and second-time film-makers, mainly women. … I’m in a lovely position where I can actually help get things greenlit, so I want to work with people who we haven’t seen yet.”
The Real Euro Disney Comes Back Home
Euro Disney comics, that is, which are multitudinous and a little weird for those used to U.S. Disney style and storyline. For instance, “the 200-page volume features a story about Mickey battling against a poison rainstorm.”
How In the Heck Is The Spirit Of Burning Man Art Supposed To Survive In Museums?
Basically, we have a cultural disconnect, or a potential one: “What happens when art shaped by utopian principles and intended as a civic gift to a temporary city is uprooted from its native white sands and replanted within white walls across the street from the White House, suddenly subject to the scrutiny of critics, curators and busy tourists?”
This Is How You Make A Terrifying Children’s Book Into A Major Opera
You take some a woman with button eyes, a portal into another world, and a plucky heroin, and add music, of course. “Around a table, two “magic consultants” were huddled around a miniature toy theater, debating what sort of fake mice would freak audiences out the most. Eerie, discordant chords drifted from another room: A trio was practicing. ‘You’re doomed,’ they seemed to be singing.”
Could Harvey Weinstein And The #MeToo Movement Lead To The Demise Of Auteur Theory?
In her speech before presenting the Best Director Oscar this year, Emma Stone said, “It is the director whose indelible touch is reflected on every frame.” However, writes Ryan Gilbey, “the assumption that the director is present in every frame becomes problematic once that same director turns out to be a liability. … If the value of a movie can be attributed to a single film-maker, it becomes that much harder to argue that extracurricular misjudgments – and even crimes – can be expunged from what is on screen.”